Method and apparatus for automatic bluetooth connection in a mobile communication terminal

ABSTRACT

A method of automatically connecting to a peripheral Bluetooth device and service in a mobile communication terminal having a Bluetooth module is provided. Upon input of a key, it is determined whether the key includes a Bluetooth mode key. If the key includes the Bluetooth mode key, the terminal transitions to a Bluetooth mode. A Bluetooth device or service corresponding to the key as a short key is detected and connected.

PRIORITY

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to a Koreanapplication filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Oct. 25,2005 and assigned Serial No. 2005-100516, the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to the Bluetooth® (hereinafter“Bluetooth”) functionality of a mobile communication terminal, and inparticular, to a method and apparatus of efficiently invoking aBluetooth service by a short (hot) key in a mobile communicationterminal equipped with a Bluetooth module.

2. Description of the Related Art

Along with the recent proliferation of mobile communication terminalsdue to their convenient portability, service providers or terminalmanufacturers have developed more convenient additional functions inorder to attract more users.

One of the additional functions, Bluetooth, provides short-rangewireless connectivity between terminals. The Bluetooth functionality ofmobile phones supports a variety of services including Headset, Music,Printing, and File Transfer.

To wirelessly communicate with peripheral devices equipped withBluetooth modules, a mobile communication terminal first scans forBluetooth devices and agrees to communicate a Bluetooth device byBluetooth pairing.

FIG. 1 illustrates connections between a typical mobile communicationterminal with a Bluetooth module and Bluetooth devices.

Referring to FIG. 1, a mobile communication terminal 100 equipped with aBluetooth module scans for peripheral Bluetooth devices 111, 113, 115and 117, makes a list 102 of the discovered Bluetooth devices 111, 113,115 and 117, and selects an intended Bluetooth device from the list 102.

The mobile communication terminal 100 connects to the selected Bluetoothdevice or service. As more and more peripheral Bluetooth devices areprovided and one Bluetooth device implements a plurality of services,the mobile communication terminal inconveniently must scan menus one byone for an intended Bluetooth device or service.

Therefore, there is a need for improved method and apparatus in a mobilecommunication terminal for easy and efficient connecting with Bluetoothdevice and service.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to substantially solve at leastthe above problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least theadvantages below. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is toprovide a method and apparatus of facilitating connection to aperipheral Bluetooth device and service in a mobile communicationterminal having a Bluetooth module.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method andapparatus of facilitating connection to a peripheral Bluetooth deviceand service by use of a short key in a mobile communication terminalhaving a Bluetooth module.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a method ofautomatically connecting to a peripheral Bluetooth device and service ina mobile communication terminal having a Bluetooth module is provided.Upon input of a key, it is determined whether the key includes aBluetooth mode key. If the key includes the Bluetooth mode key, theterminal transitions to a Bluetooth mode. A Bluetooth device or servicecorresponding to the key as a short key is detected and connected.

According to another aspect of the present invention, in a method ofsetting a short key for a peripheral Bluetooth device and service in amobile communication terminal having a Bluetooth module, peripheralBluetooth devices are scanned for and discovered peripheral Bluetoothdevices are registered in a Bluetooth device list. Services that theregistered Bluetooth devices support are detected and added to aBluetooth service list. Short keys for the registered Bluetooth devicesor services are received and registered.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 illustrates connections between a typical mobile communicationterminal with a Bluetooth module and Bluetooth devices;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a mobile communication terminal having aBluetooth module according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for registering a shortkey associated with a Bluetooth service in the mobile communicationsystem according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for invoking a Bluetoothservice by a short key in the mobile communication system according tothe present invention; and

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate screen displays shown when a Bluetoothservice is invoked by a short key in the mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the followingdescription, well-known functions or constructions are not described indetail since they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail.

The present invention is directed to a method for connecting to aperipheral Bluetooth device and service by a short key in a mobilecommunication terminal having a Bluetooth module. The followingdescription is made based on the assumption that the “#” key is presetas the short key with which to invoke the Bluetooth device and service,although other keys may be preset to act as the short key.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a mobile communication terminal having aBluetooth module according to the present invention. The mobilecommunication terminal can be any of a cellular phone, a PersonalCommunication System (PCS) phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA),and an International Mobile Telecommunication-2000 (IMT-2000) terminal,as long as it is equipped with a Bluetooth module. Hereinbelow, thepresent invention will be described in the context of a commonconfiguration of those terminals.

Referring to FIG. 2, a Micro-Processor Unit (MPU), acting as acontroller, 200 provides overall control to the mobile communicationterminal. For example, the MPU 200 is responsible for processing andcontrolling voice communications and data communications. In accordancewith the present invention, the MPU 200 sets a short key for aperipheral Bluetooth device and service registered to the mobilecommunication terminal so that a connection is facilitated to theperipheral Bluetooth device and service by use of a Bluetooth mode keyand the short key. A description of the typical processing and controloperation of the MPU 200 is not provided herein.

A communication module 202 transmits/receives a radio signal of datato/from an antenna. For transmission, the communication module 202performs channel coding, spreading, and baseband-Radio Frequency (RF)upconversion on transmission data. For reception, the communicationmodule 202 performs RF-baseband downconversion, despreading, and channeldecoding on a received signal and thus recovers data.

A Bluetooth module 204 scans for available peripheral Bluetooth devicesunder the control of the MPU 200 and registers discovered Bluetoothdevices in a Bluetooth device list by Bluetooth pairing. Forcommunications with a peripheral Bluetooth module, during reception, theBluetooth module 204 down converts a radio signal received from theBluetooth module to a baseband signal and provides the baseband signalto the MPU 200. During transmission, the Bluetooth module 202 convertstransmission data to an analog signal, upconverts the analog signal to aradio signal, and transmits the radio signal to the Bluetooth device.

A memory 206 includes a read Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory(RAM), and a flash ROM. The ROM stores the microcodes of programs forprocessing and control of the MPU 200 and a variety of reference data.The RAM is a working memory for the MPU 200, for temporarily storingdata generated during execution of programs. The flash ROM storesupdatable data to be kept, such as a phone book, outgoing messages andincoming messages. In accordance with the present invention, the memory206 stores the Bluetooth device list, a list of Bluetooth deviceservices that the Bluetooth devices can provide, and information aboutshort keys associated with the services.

A display 208 displays status information generated during the operationof the mobile communication terminal, limited digits and characters,moving pictures, and still images. The display 208 can be implemented bya color Liquid Crystal Display (LCD).

A keypad 210 is provided with digit keys 0 to 9 and function keysincluding Menu, Cancel (Clear), OK, Talk, End, Internet, and navigation(or directional) keys (▴/▾/

/

). The keypad 210 provides key input data corresponding to a pressed keyto the MPU 200.

A touch pad may use as an input means. In this case the touch padincludes a plurality of touch elements for inputting characters,numerals and directional function. Here, each touching element iscorresponding to each key of the keypad.

An audio processor 212, called a CODEC, receives and outputs a voicesignal through a microphone and a speaker. For example, the audioprocessor 212 converts digital data received from the MPU 200 to ananalog voice signal and outputs the voice signal through the speaker.The audio processor 212 also converts a voice signal received throughthe microphone to digital data and provides the digital data to the MPU200.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for registering a shortkey associated with a Bluetooth service in the mobile communicationsystem according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the MPU 200 scans for peripheral Bluetooth devicesthrough the Bluetooth module 204 in step 301. If no peripheral Bluetoothdevices are discovered, the MPU 200 is placed in a corresponding mode(e.g. normal mode or idle mode) in step 315.

In the presence of any discovered peripheral Bluetooth device, the MPU200 registers the discovered peripheral Bluetooth devices in a Bluetoothdevice list by pairing using Personal Identification Number (PIN) codesin step 303.

In step 305, the MPU 200 detects the services that the registeredperipheral Bluetooth devices can provide.

The MPU 200 adds the detected services to a Bluetooth service list instep 307 and determines whether to set short keys for the registeredBluetooth devices or services in step 309. If a short key mode is notselected, the MPU 200 ends the process.

If the short key mode is selected, the MPU 200 receives a short key tobe associated with a Bluetooth device and service by key input from auser in step 311. The MPU 200 registers the short key in a Bluetoothshort key table of the memory 206 in step 313 and then ends the process.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for invoking a Bluetoothservice by a short key in the mobile communication system according tothe present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the MPU 200 monitors reception of a key from theuser in step 401. If no key is entered, the MPU 200 enters acorresponding mode (e.g. normal mode or idle mode) in step 413.

If a key is entered, the MPU 200 determines whether the key includes aBluetooth mode key in step 403. For example, for the input of “#1”, theMPU 200 recognizes the Bluetooth mode key “#”, as illustrated in FIG.5A.

In the absence of the Bluetooth mode key, the MPU 200 invokes a functioncorresponding to the entered key (e.g. phone mode), recognizing that theentered key is associated with an ordinary function other than Bluetoothin step 411.

In the presence of the Bluetooth mode key, the MPU 200 transitions tothe Bluetooth mode in step 405 and detects a peripheral Bluetooth deviceor service corresponding to the entered short key in the Bluetooth shortkey table in step 407. While not shown, if the short key is not detectedin the Bluetooth short key table, the MPU 200 displays a short key inputerror message or error alarm.

In step 409, the MPU 200 connects to the peripheral Bluetooth device orservice, as illustrated in FIG 5B. Then the MPU 200 ends the process.

In accordance with the present invention as described above, short keysare set for a plurality of Bluetooth devices and services in a mobilecommunication terminal having a Bluetooth module. Therefore, an intendedBluetooth device and service can be connected quickly and easily amongmany Bluetooth devices and services.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference tocertain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asdefined by the appended claims.

1. A method of connecting to a peripheral Bluetooth device and servicein a mobile communication terminal having a Bluetooth module, comprisingthe steps of: selecting a Bluetooth mode; detecting a Bluetooth deviceor service corresponding to a short input means; and connecting to theBluetooth device or service.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the inputmeans is a predetermined short key of a keypad or a predetermined shorttouch element of a touch pad.
 3. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising, in the absence of the Bluetooth device or servicecorresponding to the short input, displaying a short input error messageor generating an error alarm.
 4. A method of setting a short input meansfor a peripheral Bluetooth device and service in a mobile communicationterminal having a Bluetooth module, comprising the steps of: scanningfor peripheral Bluetooth devices; registering discovered peripheralBluetooth devices in a Bluetooth device list; detecting services thatthe registered Bluetooth devices support and adding the detectedservices to the Bluetooth service list; and registering short inputmeans for the registered Bluetooth devices or services.
 5. The method ofclaim 4, wherein the Bluetooth device registering step comprisesregistering the discovered Bluetooth devices by pairing using personalidentification number (PIN) codes.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein theshort input means registering step comprises registering the short inputmeans in a Bluetooth short input means table.
 7. The method of claim 4,wherein the short input means is a predetermined short key of a keypador a predetermined short touch element of a touch pad.
 8. A method ofautomatically connecting to a peripheral Bluetooth device and service ina mobile communication terminal having a Bluetooth module, comprisingthe steps of: determining, upon input of a key, whether the key is aBluetooth mode key; transitioning to a Bluetooth mode if the key is theBluetooth mode key; detecting a Bluetooth device or servicecorresponding to the key as a short key; and connecting to the Bluetoothdevice or service.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the determiningstep comprises determining whether the key includes a Bluetooth mode keyby checking a beginning part of the key input.
 10. A method of setting ashort key for a peripheral Bluetooth device and service in a mobilecommunication terminal having a Bluetooth module, comprising the stepsof: scanning for peripheral Bluetooth devices and registering discoveredperipheral Bluetooth devices in a Bluetooth device list; detectingservices that the registered Bluetooth devices support and adding thedetected services to a Bluetooth service list; and receiving short keysfor the registered Bluetooth devices or services and registering theshort keys.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the Bluetooth deviceregistering step comprises registering the discovered Bluetooth devicesby pairing using personal identification number (PIN) codes.
 12. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the short key registering step comprisesregistering the short keys in a Bluetooth short key table.
 13. A mobilecommunication terminal for connecting to a peripheral Bluetooth deviceand service, comprising: an input means for selecting a Bluetooth mode;and a controller for detecting a Bluetooth device or servicecorresponding to a short input means, and connecting to the Bluetoothdevice or service if the input means selected the Bluetooth mode. 14.The mobile communication terminal of claim 13, wherein the input meansis a predetermined short key of a keypad or a predetermined short touchelement of a touch pad.
 15. The mobile communication terminal of claim13, wherein the controller further performs, in the absence of theBluetooth device or service corresponding to the short input, displayinga short input error message or generating an error alarm.
 16. A mobilecommunication terminal for setting a short input means for a peripheralBluetooth device and service, comprising: a controller for scanning forperipheral Bluetooth devices, registering discovered peripheralBluetooth devices in a Bluetooth device list, detecting services thatthe registered Bluetooth devices support and adding the detectedservices to a Bluetooth service list, and registering short input meansfor the registered Bluetooth devices or services; and a memory forstoring the Bluetooth device list and the Bluetooth service list. 17.The mobile communication terminal of claim 16, wherein the Bluetoothdevice registering by the controller comprises registering thediscovered Bluetooth devices by pairing using personal identificationnumber (PIN) codes.
 18. The mobile communication terminal of claim 16,wherein the short input means registering step comprises registering theshort input means in a Bluetooth short input means table.
 19. The mobilecommunication terminal of claim 16, wherein the short input means is apredetermined short key of a keypad or a predetermined short touchelement of a touch pad.